


Cancelled Plans

by ScullyLovesQueequeg



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Complete, F/M, Ficlet, Jealous Dana Scully, UST, Valentine's Day, fluff?, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 02:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17819912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScullyLovesQueequeg/pseuds/ScullyLovesQueequeg
Summary: Diana Fowley asks Mulder out on a date.Written as a part of the XF Valentine Fanfic Exchange.





	Cancelled Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MonikaFileFan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonikaFileFan/gifts).



> A fic for MonikaFileFan, (another very talented writer in this fandom) for the 2019 X-Files Valentine FF Exchange.
> 
> I saw jealousy as something that she liked, and kinda ran with it.

Dana Scully was late. She almost never was, but circumstances beyond her control caused her to walk into the J. Edgar Hoover building a little later than normal. She was not surprised when she checked her mailbox that Mulder had already collected her mail. She wasn’t even surprised that there was an abnormally large group in the main lobby, all taking pictures of the bust of J. Edgar Hoover himself.

What did surprise her was that when the doors to the elevator opened to the basement level, she was face to face with Diana Fowley, Mulder’s old partner. Fowley seemed equally surprised, but she smiled widely at Scully and greeted her, before stepping aside to let her off the elevator. Scully did not return the smile, and when Fowley was gone, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  _Why would Agent Fowley be here?_ Scully’s mind turned the thought over, before filing it away for later. She entered the office that she and Mulder shared, and found her partner rooting around in a filing cabinet.

Things between them had been… different. It wasn’t quite awkward, but it wasn’t quite the same as it had been.

Not after the hallway. Even now, weeks later, the memory was fresh in her mind—probably because she didn’t remember much else after that. Just a hazy blur of snow, bitter cold and feeling exhausted. The hint of a kiss, that unspoken attraction between them—all of it bubbled beneath a façade of professionalism, and Scully was not ready to dig deeper into it _just_ yet.

“Left something, Diana?” Mulder asked, without turning around. This roused Scully from her thoughts and she frowned, speaking in a soft manner to say,

“I’m sorry I was late, Mulder.”

Mulder turned partway to face her and gave Scully one of his wry smiles. Since Antarctica, the smiles came so easy. Scully ignored the fluttering feeling in her chest it gave her and took a seat across from his desk. She didn’t know why Agent Fowley had dropped by, but something told her that she wouldn’t get a straight answer if she asked.

“Traffic that bad?” Mulder asked, returning his attention to the filing cabinet. She watched him search some more before extracting a file and closing the drawer. He handed her the case and took a seat at her desk.

“There was an accident… you know how Foggy Bottom gets.” Scully said dismissively, as she browsed the contents of the file that Mulder handed to her. She wasn’t sure why he had handed it to her, but she still wanted to know why Fowley had been there.

“What did Agent Fowley want?” Scully asked, trying to come off as casually interested, and not the gnawing knot of anxiety she actually felt. Mulder seemed to consider the question, but as Scully had predicted, he did not give her much of an answer:  


“She just wanted to say hello.” There was a long pause, Scully waiting for more information, but Mulder didn’t provide any. She took that to mean that he didn’t wish to share. She turned her attention to the file and began looking it over, noting the pictures of seemingly nothing, just trees, darkened photos and blurs.

“What’s this?” Scully finally asked, after a couple minutes of reading the file.

“It’s a file,” Mulder answered, with a smirk, and Scully rolled her eyes.

“Wow,” Scully muttered sarcastically, “I couldn’t tell. Why did you show me this?”

Mulder didn’t answer her directly, instead standing and loading up some slides on the projector. Scully took that as a hint, and she went to dim the lights. When she returned to her seat, she was taken back by the way the light illuminated Mulder’s face. It reminded her of her brother Charlie whenever they went camping and he insisted on telling stories. It was mischievous and fitting for her partner.

“Have you ever heard of the phenomenon known as astral projection?” Mulder asked, looking over at her. Scully moved her hair behind her ear, thinking about how she wanted to answer his question when the phone rang. Mulder seemed surprised as if he forgot that he owned a phone, but answered it, taking a seat in his chair after a couple moments.

“Mulder,” He answered, his eyes flickering upwards towards the ceiling. Scully watched his movements as he spoke, subconsciously admiring him. She was drawn to the way he sat back casually, twirling a pencil between his fingers, and eyeballing the ceiling.

“Oh, hey Diana,” Scully heard Mulder say. This bothered Scully a little since she had only just been there in the office, but she said nothing, pretending not to listen to the ensuing conversation, instead busying herself with the mail that was marked as hers that was resting on the corner of Mulder’s desk.

“This Saturday? Not really, no… I haven’t really thought to ask anyone out. I think she’s doing something. Why?” Mulder asked, glancing at Scully, and then down at his desk.

_Memo, report, HR. Things I can deal with later,_ Scully thought to herself.

“Hmm, I guess. If you’re buying, I’ll consider it. I’ll see you soon, we can sort the details out tomorrow.” Mulder said, with a tone of finality that suggested the conversation was over. He said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, just as Scully glanced up.

“Right, so I want you to look at this and tell me what you see,” Mulder continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

“What did Agent Fowley want this time?” Scully asked, her voice oscillating between worry and tension. Mulder gave her a thoughtful look as if deciding what to tell her, before he turned to face the screen, and gave Scully his back.

“She wanted to take me out to dinner. This weekend is Valentine’s Day. I didn’t realize, I don’t usually celebrate,” Mulder explained, his arms crossed over his chest. His words did not match the intensity of his stare, his gaze fixed on the screen. Scully got the impression he was avoiding looking at her directly. He seemed to be downplaying the significance of the call, and by extension, the date he had tentatively planned with Agent Fowley.

“Never had anyone special?” Scully asked, though she already knew the answer was no. Mulder wasn’t interested in dating, or really any of the typical conventions people followed while in a relationship. She wasn’t even sure why she had asked, given that she already knew what his answer would be.

“Not so much that, I just think it’s silly to express your love one day out of the year when it’s something we should be doing all the time,” Mulder confessed, finally turning to look at her. Scully offered him a nervous smile, a little surprised by his answer.

“I hope you have a good time if you decide to go, that is,” She replied, though she knew it was an insincere wish. Mulder knew her well enough to be able to tell and debated if he wanted to call her out on her bluff. Instead, he countered with,

“What about you? I’m sure you probably have a hot date lined up.”

Scully wanted to laugh, and maybe, if she hadn’t just seen Agent Fowley saunter out of the office, she would have. But she couldn’t force herself to. She knew Mulder could probably tell regardless.

“No, I don’t have any plans for that day. I think you’d be the first to know if I did,” Scully answered, her gaze straying to the waste bin by his desk. It was dented, probably from all the times he had accidentally kicked it over when coming around the desk to show her something. That thought made her smile.

“It’s an overrated holiday anyway,” Mulder spoke dismissively, though she also thought the detected a hint of relief in his tone.

_He sounds almost… relieved? But why?_

Scully pushed this thought to the back of her mind.

“Does that mean you won’t be joining Agent Fowley?” Scully asked, a little too curious about the answer. Mulder’s face had the beginnings of a smile meant to convey that he wasn’t going to tell her everything. Scully recognized it well enough to know that she was not going to receive an answer from Mulder regarding the date.

“Fine, keep your secrets then. It’s laundry day for me, so I won’t be having any fun,” Scully mentioned, an eye roll expressed in just the tone of her words, but not carried out physically.

“If you sit on the machine, you will feel differently about it, I guarantee that much,” Mulder replied coyly. It was enough to make Scully laugh in earnest. 

“Well Mulder, I promise you that if I resorted to that sort of amusement with the machine, I would invite you to watch.”

Mulder gave her a genuine smile that made Scully feel better about the coming week.

* * *

The next day, when it hit noon, Scully was surprised when she saw Mulder rise suddenly to his feet and start to put on his coat. Confused, Scully stood to do the same. It was the time they usually took lunch regardless, but this surprised Scully, as they usually ate together, in his office.

“Oh uh, I’m sorry,” Mulder murmured, his arms raised above his head, caught off guard in the middle of donning his coat. “I should have told you—I’m having lunch with Diana.”

Scully felt for lack of a better word, stupid. Her insides seemed to sink into the floor, and she nodded, feeling her throat dry up and as if a loud bell had been rung in her ears. All she could think was, _I’m choking._

She wasn’t even sure why she felt that way. Mulder had gone out to lunch with others before, especially when he needed help on a case— “a necessary evil”, he would call it. It didn’t bother her then. But Agent Fowley bothered her.

_It’s because she’s a woman. And you’re convinced that he likes her. That’s good for him. They have history together, they dated in the past… what’s to stop him from wanting to pick up from where they left off? I shouldn’t be so surprised… she even agrees with his theories. God, I feel like a stupid, heartbroken teen…_

She was nearly frozen in place, and she didn’t move until she heard Mulder saying her name.

“Scully? Is everything okay?”

With her attention refocused on her partner, Scully forced a smile and nodded to indicate nothing was wrong. She wasn’t sure of how long they had been standing there, but a quick glance at the clock told her only a minute or two had gone by.

“Sorry, I was just thinking. I didn’t mean to presume… we usually have lunch together in here, so… I just thought maybe we were going out to lunch this time,” Scully admitted, removing her coat. Mulder gave her a smile that seemed laced in regret, but said,

“It’s alright. Maybe tomorrow we can go out for lunch. My treat.”

To Scully, it sounded like he was throwing her a bone. _Like he feels bad for me. Pity._

“No, it’s fine. Have a good time. I’ll be here when you get back.” Scully said quietly. Mulder watched her for just a moment longer before walking out of the office.

Scully glanced down at the bag that she kept her lunch in and thought about how pathetic it seemed that she was going to be eating alone in the office. Shaking her head a little, she carried the bag with her behind the desk and decided to use her computer while Mulder was gone.

She scanned her email halfheartedly, her eyes just jumping from line to line, when she paused at an old email she had received from Mulder. It brought a smile to her face, because it was a forwarded article about bee pollen. Even the subject line made her smile.

_Mulder made her smile._

Her thoughts returned to her partner, wondering if maybe he had changed his mind about how he felt, or if the thought of losing her had caused him to say whatever he could to get her to stay. She just hoped that if Mulder decided to date Fowley, he would be truly happy.

 

It didn’t take Mulder very long after leaving the office to arrive at the meeting place he had set with Fowley. It was a simple café, and when Mulder walked in, Agent Fowley was already seated and sipping some coffee. When she saw Mulder approaching, she smiled a little too wide, and it reminded him of a crocodile. Still, he approached the table and took a seat across from her.

“Thank you for joining me,” Fowley started, and Mulder returned her smile with a nervous one of his own, already trying to think of how to turn her down gently.

“It’s no problem. How are you?” Mulder asked, glancing at the chic little menu left on the table for them to peruse.

“I’m fine. You look well. How’s Agent Scully?” Fowley asked, using a spoon to stir in some cream into her coffee. Mulder watched her hands moving, and when that got boring, he glanced up at her face.

“She’s okay. I think she’s actually a little disappointed that I didn’t do lunch with her today. We usually eat in the office.” Mulder said, glancing up when someone came over to take his order. Mulder ordered coffee and a croissant, not really feeling all that hungry.

“Is that so?” Fowley asked in a way that told Mulder she wasn’t at all interested in talking about his partner. “Does she know about our date? I can’t imagine she would be happy about that either.”

Mulder blinked slowly, trying to process what she had said, and deciding that her words held a hidden meaning, he decided to play stupid.

“Why would she care?” He asked, a smile barely registering on his features when he had gotten what he ordered. He thanked the server quietly before he started adding some sugar and cream to his coffee.

“Well, there are rumors,” Fowley started delicately, her eyes avoiding Mulder’s and dancing on the table’s surface. She used her hand to brush away a stray lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face, and Mulder was once again reminded of Scully. “There was a rumor that you two botched up a job in Texas and that you caused people to die. There was another rumor that Agent Scully fled to Antarctica carrying your love child, and you got sent to bring her back. The biggest one right now is that you’re sleeping with her. I think there's a betting pool going around for when you go public.”

Mulder let his eyes drift out the window, recalling the events that she had brought up, and how much they differed from the truth. He was about to correct her, when he remembered his talk with Scully in his hallway before she had gotten stung. It was a conversation they never went back to. He just didn’t know how to approach it.

“None of that is true,” Mulder admitted quietly. “That is absurd. Why would she flee to one of the coldest places on the planet if she were pregnant? No one died in Texas. We were cleared of that. And I’m not sleeping with Agent Scully. Why would I agree to let you take me on a date if I was sleeping with her? I can't believe people are betting on it.”

Fowley made eye contact with him and shrugged, though she didn’t seem to believe him.

“I don’t really know why. Even I thought you two were a thing. That’s why I wanted us to meet for lunch. I wanted to look you in the eye and ask you. I thought maybe… we could try to finish what we had started.”

Mulder glanced at her, his brows raised in surprise.

“What, before you abandoned me to work in Europe? That was years ago, Diana.” He didn’t sound bitter, but she could tell he held some resentment. Maybe even anger.

“I couldn’t help that. I was needed…” Fowley said, with a soft sigh. Mulder recalled the memory of walking into an empty office, with a note on his desk that Diana had been reassigned as per her request for a transfer. He felt betrayed, especially since they had been lovers. For weeks he had tried to get a hold of her until he gave up completely.

“No, you transferred. You requested to leave. It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in being anything other than friends,” He replied, shaking loose the memory that still stung, even though it had been just shy of a decade. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m going to have to turn down your offer of a date.”

“You’d rather spend it alone, than with someone who is willing to buy you a meal?” Fowley asked, her eyes wide, though not purposely so. That had always bothered Mulder. She was a great listener, and the synergy that they had when they worked together was only rival to the one he had with Scully, but it was in a past that seemed almost a lifetime ago.

“I won’t be alone. I don’t think Scully had any plans either.” Mulder gave Fowley an apologetic smile but retrieved his wallet to pay for his things. She just watched him, feeling almost a sense of betrayal, but an understanding because she had been gone for a while.

“Well, thank you for joining me for lunch, regardless. Out of curiosity… when did you decide you weren’t going to take me up on my offer? It seemed like you already had your mind made up.” Fowley asked, keeping her composure. A small frown lingered on her features, at the very least.

“Maybe half an hour after you offered it. I just don’t like this holiday. I don’t celebrate any, really,” Mulder said, leaving money on the table. He bid her a short farewell before walking out of the café, leaving Fowley feeling like she had messed up. Maybe it was the rumors.

* * *

Saturday came, and proved mostly uneventful for Scully. She hadn’t expected much, and though she wished for a phone call from Mulder, by the time 3PM hit, she knew it wasn’t happening. _He’s probably with Fowley,_ she thought to herself. That thought depressed her, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

It was just after 6PM that Scully found herself cursing the concentration that was broken by the phone ringing. She had been working on a puzzle, and the sound startled her. Sighing softly, she rose to her feet and dragged herself over to the phone, answering it and bring the base back with her to the table, being careful that the line did not accidently come out. It was fiddly like that sometimes.

“Scully,” She answered, balancing the receiver between her neck & shoulder and concentrating once more on the puzzle pieces in front of her.

“Hey Scully. I was wondering if… maybe you wanted to come over and see a movie with me.”

Scully’s heart stopped, and she nearly dropped the receiver, but she answered in a soft voice,

“I thought you had plans?” There was a pause on Mulder’s end, and Scully worried that perhaps he had been stood up. Maybe he was calling her because he didn’t want to be alone.

“I’ll tell you about that when you get here. Bring a movie you like.” He said, and despite herself, Scully found herself smiling.

“Alright, I’ll be right over.”

 

Scully waited at the door to Mulder’s apartment, feeling nervous, and if she was being honest with herself, afraid. While Mulder had seemed happy to have her over, he seemed to be mysterious about it, which lead her to believe that maybe things hadn’t worked out with Fowley. It gave her a new hope, but she was scared to even allow herself to think of the possibilities.

The sound of the locks being opened caused Scully to snap out of her thoughts, her eyes drinking in the golden numbers that indicated that the apartment was indeed his. The door opened slowly, and Mulder opened his mouth to greet her when they were both startled by a loud thud, right next door. Both agents looked over to see a young, mousey man in the middle of moving into his apartment. He murmured his apology for startling them, and immediately Mulder and Scully disregarded him.

“Hey. Glad you came. Did you bring the movie?” Mulder asked, opening the door wider to let Scully in when he noticed the man that was moving in was staring at them. She hurried inside and removed her coat as Mulder locked the door behind her.

Scully noted that he was dressed casually, in sweats and a t-shirt, conveying that he felt completely comfortable with her seeing him like this. It was almost a turn on for her. _Almost._

“Yes,” Scully finally answered, once her coat was hung up. She opened the plastic bag she brought with her from the video rental store and handed him the videotape.  Mulder turned it over in his hands before nodding and putting it into the video cassette player. He hit the rewind button, before straightening and turning to face Scully, who was watching him.

“I’m going to order food,” Mulder said, unsure why he felt a strange feeling of nervousness.

“That’s fine,” Scully said, taking a seat on the couch, and watching as Mulder strolled over to his phone to place the call. She let her eyes wander around the apartment, and they landed on an older issue of Playboy magazine, which was laid out on the coffee table. She normally disregarded his porn habit, but today, she seemed a little more interested than usual.

“See something you like?” Mulder asked, his voice unusually close to her ears. She dropped the magazine, the book falling to the floor.

“Jesus, Mulder! I was just looking…” She said, turning her head to face his. He pulled back and sat down next to her on the couch, leaning forward to pick up the magazine. He shoved it under the couch cushion, and ran a nervous hand through his hair, chuckling at the stupidity.

“So. What happened to that date with Fowley?” Scully asked, and she saw the smile on his features shrink slightly.

“I didn’t go. I… I don’t know. I guess part of me still resents that she left me without even so much as a goodbye. She requested to transfer and said nothing to me. At least you had the decency to tell me. We had been lovers, and so when she left… it was like she drove a stake through my heart. But to be honest, I knew later that day when she called me that I wasn’t going to go. It’s just as well, she was looking to rekindle something, and I told her I wasn’t interested.” Mulder explained, sitting forward with his arms resting in his lap as he spoke. He let his palms dangle between his knees and Scully thought of a cat, playing with string.

“So… what now?” Scully asked, mentally unpacking what he had just told her and storing it for later use, “Do you feel like you’ll ever be interested in giving her another chance to rekindle what you had?”

The words coming out of her mouth sounded and tasted foreign, the way she expected a bad smell to taste like. The look on her face must have given her away because Mulder then said,

“You make it seem like that would be a bad idea.”

“No, I just…” She didn’t want to finish that sentence. She didn’t want to think of him with _someone else_. She wanted him. So many times she had gotten close to admitting it to him.

“No, I don’t think I would. The past is better left that way.”

A comfortable silence fell between them, and Scully found herself glad that she had come out to see him. They watched some TV while they waited for the food, saving the movie for their dinner.

“I guess this isn’t a bad way to spend Valentine’s Day,” Scully said, halfway through an episode of a sitcom. Mulder glanced over and smiled in a goofy manner.

“You could be doing laundry,” He pointed out, which made her grin.

“You could have been on a date,” She teased back.

“I thought that’s what _this_ was.” Mulder said, in a tone she had trouble deciphering. She wasn’t sure how to take his comment, so she laughed nervously.

“I really appreciate that you invited me over,” She said quietly, and Mulder stood, and went to dim the lights. She heard him shuffle about, but he came back a moment later with two candles. He lit both candles and took a seat on the couch again.

“Now it’s a date,” Mulder said, and Scully felt her insides flutter. She wondered if he knew how much she worried about losing him eventually to someone like Fowley. She wondered if he ever worried about things like that. He never seemed to, but it was moments like these that she caught glimpses of this larger thing that was left unspoken between them. The candles, though a silly gesture, revealed a desire to have a romantic dinner. It was a sentiment that she shared with him.

“…if I had asked you out on a date, would you have declined too?” Scully asked, almost dreading the answer. Mulder gave her a mysterious smile and she knew that once again, he was not going to give her a straight answer.

“Would you go on a date with me?” Scully asked. The words stuck together like grains of sticky rice and she regret asking the moment the question left her lips. It was too late to take it back, and Scully could almost see it thinning out and vanishing like smoke.

“Yeah. I’d like that,” Mulder answered with a kind smile. She glanced down at the table and moved closer to him. Instinctively, Mulder started to lean in, and before she was sure Mulder knew what he was going to do, she knew what was coming.

“You know, the last time you tried that, I almost died.” Scully murmured, causing Mulder brief pause. When he realized what she meant, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I can’t make any promises it won’t happen again this time, but there aren’t any bees in this building,” He said, mirroring her semi-jocular tone. Mulder slowly turned to face her, the candles only illuminating part of his face, and what she assumed to be a puckish grin. _What the hell is it about his apartment that makes him want to kiss me?_ Scully thought as they moved closer to share a kiss.

This kiss was not interrupted.

When the phone rang, and Scully felt Mulder pull away to answer. She felt dizzy, her mind racing, and her nerves a tangled mess. She held her hands to her face, feeling a warm blush take over her cheeks. Mulder soon hung up, and pulled his wallet off the coffee table, still grinning.

“Is that the food?” Scully asked, and Mulder nodded, heading down to get it.

While he was out, Scully smiled to herself, glad that for once in the last couple of years, she had finally had plans for Valentine’s Day.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) I left the timeline intentionally vague  
> 2) This is the first think I've written in a while  
> 3) I'm sorry the ending is so abrupt.
> 
> Shout out to:  
> 1) Grammarly & Hemmingway for helping with proofreading and catching most of the mistakes.  
> 2) my friend Katie, for plotting out this whole thing and helping me  
> 3) Nicole for making this exchange  
> 4) All the lovely ladies in our support group chat on Twitter, thanks guys!  
> 5) Val, for reassuring me many, many times that my person would enjoy it and giving me some insight.


End file.
